[Monolith]

Started playing. Damn I love this game. So emotional. Yes its safe to say this is an adventure game not an RPG, especially since its all point and click and nothing RPG related.

[diego]

"You're SO getting resetted"

Ok, i finished it, and there's a lot of things to say but in a nutshell - games like these make me wish i was a millionaire so i could give it all to inspiring independent developers

Now, the game is not perfect. It's hardly a game, but it's "perfection" lies in what it is trying to tell, and is doing it in an extraordinary way. I could bring my selfish, traditional-adventurous side and complain about repeated puzzles, lack of challenge, lack of puzzles... but that wouldn't matter much since we're dealing with the game that makes you look at things, people around you... life - a little bit different and clearer. I'm not sure honestly how would everything work in a more puzzle-oriented environment.

Obviously - story, sharp writing AND music makes this a worthwhile experience. It reminded me a bit of one of my favourite movies - Open Your Eyes but the narrative is quite original, and i was wrong that first 15 minutes of Up can't be repeated Subtle humor is similar to VGA classics, because since there's no speech, much is achieved by clever use of text and delays between lines, along with the small gestures characters make. Also, kids think and speak like kids, adults like adults... a trap into which many bigger projects fall. I think i haven't seen such good independent writing since Cirque De Zale

I liked how story takes many little turns but it doesn't feel "cheap" along the way. Maybe, there were some instances where i expected something different, and somehow i think the story peak as for me was

Spoiler:

when they were kids at the amusement park

before the actual ending, as somehow things and additions after that happened fast, but it doesn't really take anything from the experience. The music is quite nice, like the first one in the woods and River's theme. I tried short covers on a guitar of it :

Originally Posted by fov

Spoiler:

FREE PONY RIDES ON THE MOON!!

the expression on his face was hilarious in that scene and the way he was described under Items:

Spoiler:

Village idiot

[zane]

Originally Posted by Monolith

Yes its safe to say this is an adventure game not an RPG, especially since its all point and click and nothing RPG related.

yeah its sad that most review sites are still labelling this as an rpg. Its almost like they dont know what else to call it because they forgot what an adventure game is :-|
The only thing remotely connecting it to an rpg is the art style (and one joke).

[fov]

Originally Posted by diego

I liked how story takes many little turns but it doesn't feel "cheap" along the way. Maybe, there were some instances where i expected something different, and somehow i think the story peak as for me was

Spoiler:

when they were kids at the amusement park

before the actual ending, as somehow things and additions after that happened fast, but it doesn't really take anything from the experience.

This was the scene where I really lost it the first time. (Before that I'd sniffled here and there, but I was just bawling.) Possibly because of this, I kind of missed the reasoning behind why

Spoiler:

River had to be "removed."

On my second playthrough I got it and the scene (and everything that comes afterward) was even more poignant.

As far as things happening fast after that, as I alluded to in the review, I didn't really like that once the docs figured out what to do,

Spoiler:

Rosalene goes off and does it and Watts/the player have no involvement. I felt Watts' helplessness and also really liked how he had changed as a character, but I think the ending could have been much stronger if it had been "my" decision, not Dr. Rosalene's, that ultimately led to the happy ending.

the expression on his face was hilarious in that scene and the way he was described under Items:

Spoiler:

Village idiot

If you check out the notes again later on, his description changes to something like

Spoiler:

A pretty cool guy.

I'm not sure what prompted the change but I thought it was a neat touch. In fact several of the items had descriptions that changed over time, I thought those were nice details.

[Keregioz]

Any thoughts on the final scene

Spoiler:

where dr. Watts takes the painkillers? I kinda thought that he actually somehow was using the machine on himself so he can be together with Eva and had to take the painkiller to be able to remain in this state. Although, I'm not sure it makes any sense... but there was this red flash and heartbeat that was the same when the old man was close to dying. I'm probably reading too much in to it?

[rtrooney]

Just purchased the game. Per my comment on your review, I hope this will not do to me what UP did.

[zane]

Originally Posted by Keregioz

Any thoughts on the final scene

Spoiler:

my thoughts are this: it definitely suggests the scene is somebodies memory. So it must be the memory of one of the two doctors (unless somebody else watched this from a hiding spot...) Neil seems like the most likely candidate, but it wouldnt surprize me too much of if it was eva somehow. Either way, the implication seems to be in a future game we'l be playing inside the memory of one of the doctors.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by rtrooney

Just purchased the game. Per my comment on your review, I hope this will not do to me what UP did.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is this "UP" of which you speak?



Edit:
Oh, you probably meant the movie 'Up'.
Christ, I was thinking either UPtimist did something to you or UP was an acronym for a game...
Boy, is my face red...

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

Forgive my ignorance, but what is this "UP" of which you speak?



Edit:
Oh, you probably meant the movie 'Up'.
Christ, I was thinking either UPtimist did something to you or UP was an acronym for a game...
Boy, is my face red...

UPtimist is virtually molesting people now!?!??! haha I didn't think of that. lol But yeah, I thought of the movie immediately since it was so sad.

[J.H]

This looks incredible. Lucky for me I'm off sick for a week, this will sort me out nicely.

[rtrooney]

I know this is probably a technical question, but I can't seem to get the game to load properly. When I install it, I get three icons, rather than one on my desktop. Only one starts the game. I don't know what the other two do, but they can't be deleted without uninstalling the entire game. Also when the opening screen comes up, Begin, Load and Exit are the three options. Begin brings up the Load screen as does Load. Load what? I haven't done anything that can be saved?

[rtrooney]

Nevermind. I really don't know why this should have been the case, but I toggled to Windows view, was able to start the game, toggled back to full screen, and was able to continue.

[rtrooney]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

Oh, you probably meant the movie 'Up'.
Boy, is my face red...

You got it right. My comment to FOV re: the game also referrenced the sadness of the first 20 minutes of the movie "UP".

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by rtrooney

You got it right. My comment to FOV re: the game also referrenced the sadness of the first 20 minutes of the movie "UP".

Thank you for confirming that I'll cry like a baby when playing this...

Will probably get weird looks from the wife again, too...

[rtrooney]

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

Thank you for confirming that I'll cry like a baby when playing this...

If it is anything like UP, I'll probably have to call into work and take a sick day. It's the most emotional piece of film I've ever seen

[rtrooney]

I've got to admit that I am having a hard time with this game. It is beautifully designed, and has wonderful music. But I don't know what I am supposed to be doing. I'm running around this Anime-styled set and nothing progesses. It's quite possible I don't understand the "style" of the game.

As previously posted, I was expecting a tearful ending, but I see no way to get there.

At $11.99 US this is an incredible bargain, kind of....

[fov]

How far along are you? Have you started using the machine yet?

If not, the very early portion is like a traditional adventure game.

Spoiler:

Go up to the house and knock on the door, then chat with the people a bit, then as one of the doctors go talk to the kids and ultimately have them lead you to the secret room. After this you can choose either to explore a little more or to go back to the bedroom to fire up the memory machine.

If you're already in the memory scenes, your main objective here is to find five "memory links" so you can proceed to the next scenes. The colored balls at the bottom of the screen show how many you've found (they're grayed out until you find the corresponding memories). They're pretty easy to find if you do some exploring -- click on various items and people around the environments and walk around. Once you've found all five, you select and "shoot" at the item that will take you to the next memory (the one that has a shield around it when you initially select it) to progress, then solve the little tile puzzle, then you jump back a step in the timeline.

That's really all there is to it -- not much meat to the gameplay, but once you get sucked in it (hopefully) won't matter.

[rtrooney]

I'm missing something. From everything you've said, this is too good a game to give up on.

[MartyMcFly]

I'm glad to see this game getting so much attention in the AG forums! It just goes to show that budget can't stop a talented indie developer making something truly memorable. Here is my review if anybody is interested:

To The Moon (PC) Review - Alternative Magazine Online

I also have an interview with the game's creator Kan Gao - he also composed the lovely soundtrack - going live soon!

[Lucien21]

I literally tore through this game in one sitting. (It's now 1:30 am, but I couldn't stop playing it.)

I really enjoyed the story and the music (which really fit the narrative). The humour generated between the two doctors was a perfect foil for the tone of the John/River story. It kept it from going to far into the sappyness. (or as Neil puts it at one point "a big cheesefest")

The only thing was the lack of any actual gameplay. The little that there was was simple and straightforward, but there was times I hankered for more interaction, esp at the end I would have liked the choice or at least influence the choice.

In the end if you fancy a seriously good story and some great music and don't mind the primitive graphics and lack of any actual game then this is for you. I would recommend snapping it up.

Only one question that I was curious about...

Spoiler:

What was actually wrong with River?